There are some excellent products available to detect spyware, stop spyware, and remove spyware from your computer. Anti spyware software is designed to do all this plus immunize your computer against the reinstallation of the spyware it destroys - spyware blocking. Although spyware and adware are not considered computer viruses (mainly because spyware and adware don't replicate themselves), anti spyware software works much like anti virus software works.

Anti spyware software scans and/or monitors your computer for known spyware and adware file characteristics and patterns. It compares its database of spyware definitions to the files on your PC, sending a trigger when it detects a match. Normally, anti spyware software alerts you whenever it finds spyware or other malicious software, and lets you know what it has found. Most good spyware removers provide you with some detailed information about the spyware that has been found, such as its name, origin, and what it is designed to do. You then have a choice to destroy the spyware or to keep it (rarely would you want to keep it - unless it has accidentally detected a known good program that it thinks is spyware